food intolerance? IBS? Something else? please diagnose me.

[Marne]

I keep getting bouts of diarrhea and very gassy tummy, sometimes i think its cause by anxiety but other times not. It seems to happen after drinking tea or coffee (so i try and avoid these) and sometimes after gluten or fatty foods, one minute i can have diarrhea and the next (within a few hours) i am constipated. Each time i have a bout i feel worse (feel tired, feel sick and drained), sometimes it takes me 2 days to feel normal again, sometimes i have 2-3 bouts a week and sometimes i can go a whole week with being fine. Its been going on for 2 years (was not as often to begin with), what could it be? i'm fed up of feeling rough all the time and being worried about what i'm eating and if it will effect me.

have you had a blood test for H Pylori?? -

if not it needs ruling out before you should be thinking IBS etc etc, its very common, but apparently often missed - my SIL IBS & PA were finally got to the bottom of with a new GP who knew about this stomach bug & a course of the right anti b's later she is better - her husband has now just been diagnosed with the same - so well worth asking your GP about
good luck

Have you tried a lactose free diet? Or a gluten free diet? Strictly? For six weeks? I'd give it a whirl, personally.

Thank your posts, i will try and get to the gp on monday and ask for a blood test for H Pylori, i doesn't seem like a bug (not bad diorrhea, more gassy) and dull stomach pains, just feel so drained for 2 days and then back to normall. Will also try cutting out glutten (i don't eat much lactose, dont drink tea and coffee very often), there deffently seems to be a link from drinking tea and coffee (i always react within 1-2 hours after drinking it) so will stay clear of it from now on. Feeling horrid this morning after the 2nd night of it , havn't eaten anything yet but managed a slice of toast last night, just feel like drinking gallons of water.

Apparently it doesn't have to be bad diareah or sickness for H, Pylori, I've had an IBS diagnosis for YEARS - I now have a new GP & after going back complaining of raging heartburn & similar to you describe she has sent me for H Pylori tests too - I didn't ask about it, but she obviously thinks it could be the cause, or at least that it needs ruling out.

Good luck with your GP, if it is something like H.Pylori at least its an easy cure :) - if not & you end up with IBS diagnosis, you might want to look into a herb called Cats Claw I've found it brilliant for helping with stomach problems

Ask for the coeliac test before you try a gluten free diet, if theyre taking blood you may as well do the lot.